JERSEY is being asked to join in with celebrations across Europe in two years’ time to mark 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror.
Synonymous with one of the most famous dates in British and French history, William Duke of Normandy defeated the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.
William was born in 1027 – and the French region his Viking descendants first conquered and then used as a springboard for conquests from Ireland to Sicily is hoping to make a big deal of the millennium of his birth, to bring together all communities which have Norman roots.
This week, a delegation from Normandy visited “Les Iles Anglo-Normandes”, as the Channel Islands are known in France, to promote the year-long festivities.
They hope that Jersey will embrace the celebrations, using them to promote its own Norman heritage, which includes the Jèrriais (accent) language, its churches, as well as the genealogy of many of its residents.
Jerseymen are known to have fought alongside William in 1066.
Michael Dodds, director of the Normandy Travel Board, who was part of this week’s visit, said: “This is a huge opportunity to tell the tale of William and give it an international profile. We have come to Jersey to discuss ideas and projects to promote our shared heritage through culture, language, education and sport.
“This is not just about remembering the past but creating a new collective memory. It is not just a reflection on the past 1,000 years but what we can build together today.”
During their visit, the Norman team met many people with a keen interest in the Island’s links with its closest neighbour.
of them, Jon Carter, chief executive of Jersey Heritage, spoke about some of the opportunities he envisaged.
“Much French and British historical writing has either focused on the Island itself only or has overlooked the story of the Island altogether – this is an opportunity to place our story in a much broader European context,” he said.
“We are now able to benefit from a lot of previously unknown or unused sources. The growth of online resources has shown that many of the records destroyed by American bombing of the Archive at St Lo in 1944 have survived as copies in America, Europe and Britain, as well as Jersey.
“The first history of the Norman Dukes was written by a Jerseyman, Maistre Wace, around 1160 – it’s an important work of literature as well as a valuable historical resource.
“The intangible cultural heritage of our Norman past is quite obvious today in the Jèrriais language, our place-names, our law and some of our traditions but there is also a strong backbone of built heritage, especially in our medieval Norman parish churches, remembering that we were part of the diocese of Coutances until 1569.
“For much of the medieval period, our churches and priories, including the Priory of St Helier on the Islet where Elizabeth Castle stands, were owned by Norman Abbeys.
“St Helier himself is part of our Norman heritage. We tend to think of him as a local saint, but there are many churches of St Helier in Normandy and a lot of medieval statues, stained glass and wall-paintings depicting his Jersey story.”
When it comes to the Battle of Hastings, it is said that Onfroi, Mauger and Roger de Carteret fought alongside William. It was Onfroi’s son Renaud who established the de Carteret family in Jersey, whose seat remains at St Ouen’s Manor where, fittingly, the millennium project was launched on Friday.
Well-known buildings from Normandy’s colonial epoch include the Tower of London, Norwich Cathedral and the Arab-Norman church at Palermo in northern Sicily.
